Implication of Surface Properties, Bacterial Motility, and Hydrodynamic Conditions on Bacterial Surface Sensing and Their Initial Adhesion

Abstract

Biofilms are structured microbial communities attached to surfaces, which play a significant role in the persistence of biofoulings in both medical and industrial settings. Bacteria in biofilms are mostly embedded in a complex matrix comprised of extracellular polymeric substances that provide mechanical stability and protection against environmental adversities. Once the biofilm is matured, it becomes extremely difficult to kill bacteria or mechanically remove biofilms from solid surfaces. Therefore, interrupting the bacterial surface sensing mechanism and subsequent initial binding process of bacteria to surfaces is essential to effectively prevent biofilm-associated problems. Noting that the process of bacterial adhesion is influenced by many factors, including material surface properties, this review summarizes recent works dedicated to understanding the influences of surface charge, surface wettability, roughness, topography, stiffness, and combination of properties on bacterial adhesion. This review also highlights other factors that are often neglected in bacterial adhesion studies such as bacterial motility and the effect of hydrodynamic flow. Lastly, the present review features recent innovations in nanotechnology-based antifouling systems to engineer new concepts of antibiofilm surfaces.

Unveiling the Antifouling Performance of Different Marine Surfaces and Their Effect on the Development and Structure of Cyanobacterial Biofilms

“…These results suggested that biofilm structure is not only dependent on the surface but also on the cyanobacterial isolate, as previously shown by Zheng et al [33].…”

“…Since it is known that surface properties influence cell adhesion and subsequent biofilm formation [33,34], surface materials were first analyzed regarding their hydrophobicity, topography, and roughness. Table 1 presents the contact angles, hydrophobicity, and roughness values for the tested materials.…”

Bacterial adhesion to biomaterials: What regulates this attachment? A review

“…Bacterial adhesion to a surface is a multifactorial process [ 2 ], which is affected by various factors such as duration of the bacterial exposure to surfaces, bacterial characteristics (cell wall components, appendages, and motility), nutrients, and bacterial density [ 52 ]. The cell-cell bond between two genetically distinct microorganisms is known as coaggregation, and cohesion when a cell is attached to the surface [ 24 ].…”

“…The process of adhering to a surface involves the three types of interactions (specific, nonspecific, and mechanosensing), and happens with the formation of the conditioning film, which is the base on which biofilm grows, formed by organic and inorganic particles [ 22 , 52 ]. The particles present in the fluid that bathes the surface can settle and form a part of this conditioning film.…”

Antimicrobial Polymeric Structures Assembled on Surfaces

“…Such brushes can control the surface-bacteria interactions and thus, can discourage the bacterial adhesion ( Figure 4 c) [ 139 ]. More details on polymers with antiadhesive properties and on strategies to prevent bacterial adhesion can be further consulted in the literature [ 37 , 38 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 , 141 ].…”